User Comments - amber

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amber

Posted on: 起名要小心
November 3, 2008 at 3:41 AM

hi natalia,

四大叔 Sìdà shū doesn't have any special meaning, it just refers to something like  'uncle number 4'

Posted on: China’s Supergirl
November 3, 2008 at 3:41 AM

hi penhuizc,

Yes that sentence is almost perfect.  The only thing we took away is one of the 的 (de):

我最喜欢的中国歌手是周笔畅。
Wǒ zuì xǐhuan de Zhōngguó gēshǒu shì Zhōu Bǐchàng.

Posted on: 户籍制度
November 3, 2008 at 2:51 AM

hi ooka,

In 一时半会儿 (Yīshí-bànhuǐr) the 会儿 (huǐr) is pronounced as third tone, so it's correct.

Posted on: Traffic
November 3, 2008 at 2:18 AM

hi pchenery,

Sorry about that, looking into it now!  Will get fixed for you as soon as poss!  :)

Posted on: DVDs and the Mao Suit
November 2, 2008 at 1:19 AM

Hi everybody,

OK everyone interested in coming to the NYC meetup, please come to this thread; we have some ideas as to when and where there.

Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 31, 2008 at 7:54 AM

nygard,

This lesson explains the bu tone change.

Here is an overview of the yī tone changes:

1. When in front of a 4th tone word, yī changes to 2nd tone, i.e.
yīzhì changes to yízhì

2. When in front of a 1st, 2nd, 3rd tone word,
yī changes to 4th tone, i.e.
yīqǐ changes to yìqǐ

3. If you're expressing ordinal numbers, or reading out numerals, it stays as 1st tone, i.e.
第一 dìyī
1991 yījiǔjiǔyī

According to the rules of pinyin, the tone changes are not reflected in the written form of pinyin, that is why we don't change the tones in the PDFs.

Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 31, 2008 at 2:31 AM

hi mikenotinjubei,

Yes, shunhao is right:

我感觉差不多了。
Wǒ gǎnjué chàbuduō le.

It means that when you feel it, it feels about the same to you.

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 4: Communication in the Office
October 31, 2008 at 2:22 AM

hi songyian,

If you were wanting to say 'You don't need to study so hard, or so much' you would say:

不用学这么多中文.
Bùyòng xué zhème duō Zhōngwén.

Using 怎么 (zěnme) gives a different meaning:

我不怎么学中文.
Wǒ bù zěnme xué Zhōngwén.
I don't study Chinese very much.

Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 30, 2008 at 6:12 AM

hey turdferg,

We talk about that very bill snapping technique on an upcoming Dear Amber show on this very subject.  Stay tuned...

Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 30, 2008 at 4:06 AM

changye,

hahahaha that is the funniest story ever!